Baja Bytes – September 6, 2022
Oregon resident Randy Romero caught a 68-inch long – a few pounds short of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) All Tacle record of 87-pounds– dorado (mahi-mahi). This dorado is in a rare category of those weighing over 80-pounds, as only a few in that class have been recorded by the IGFA (International Game Fish Association).
Randy and his wife also hooked a striped marlin, but that was “the one that got away.” The catch was aboard the La Patrona boat, owned by Pacific Time Sports Fishing in Cabo San Lucas. …Gringo-Photo
Bull Ring
Mostly short bass are biting in the kelp line, but the water is hot, and the bass do not like hot water. Try fishing deeper as you would in winter, as water is much cooler below the surface. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Islands
Got two nice yellows and a halibut at Middle Grounds this afternoon! I slow-trolled sardine for the yellows and on the bottom for the halibut. ..Michael Tall
An excellent option is to fish offshore, as the yellowtail bite at the Islands has been good and relatively stable.
Yellows are in the Middle Grounds, at the north end of South Island, Ribbon Kelp, and the weather side of North Island.
They have been running in the 8 to 15-pound range for the most part though you might see a 20-pounder if you are lucky.
Slow-trolled sardine continue to be a great way to locate these fish. When bit, throw some chum to convert it into a bait stop with multiple fish. Others are finding success dropping the anchor at the Middle Grounds or South Island kelp zones, and they chum to bring the fish close. Both methods are working well.
BTW… the Mexican Navy is actively checking boats, so be sure and have all your paperwork in order before heading out.
Here is a tip: Place everyone’s permits AND IDs in a single zip lock bag so all are in one place and can quickly be handed over to the Mexican officials when asked. …Fishdope.com
Coronado Canyon / 226-302 / 230 / 371 / 425 / Upper Hidden / Above 32 00
This is the best choice for “local” tuna. Dorado fishing has slowed down, but it is still pretty good if you find the right kelp.
If dorado are your primary goal, you might want to consider fishing up above the border out west of the 178 to the 312 to the 289. The limit is TEN vs. TWO in Mexican waters, and the bite is currently better in US waters.
Here are the details:
Tuna…
Bluefin and yellowfin are both found west of the Islands and in the 371/425 area.
The boats have been getting yellowfin on trolling jig stops, finding them on sonar marks, off birds, foamers, and breezers; some are starting to hang on kelps, too.
These yellowfin appear to be mainly in the 20 to 40-pound class, with bigger and smaller fish around. Nice quality.
Not just yellowfin either, as some of these schools have bluefin mixed in, and there are some schools of straight bluefin. …Fishdope.com
Ensenada
San Quintin
9/3/22 slower today on the halibut, but nice lingcod. Beautiful flat, gray day, fishing with Mr. Bob Frenzy and Mr. Mike Mehal. …fishonnn&onnn-Juan Cook
Baja Sur
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/storm-tracker/
Pay close attention to Hurricane Kay. The forecast is for the storm to hug the Baja coast and come up as far as Guadalupe Island on Friday, September 9, before swinging out to the west.
If the storm comes that close, we can expect to see a big southern swell, and most likely, we will see showers and thunderstorms. San Diego might be close enough to experience tropical depression or tropical storm force winds.
We could see much stronger wind if it slips a few more miles north.
Please keep a close eye on the latest forecast and conditions for your local area before you head out!
Ascension Bay
09-06-22… “Thanks to everyone who is sending messages of support. We may lose internet sooner than later, so I am posting this now.”…Shari Bondy
“Those who know me know that I am not easily scared, nor am an alarmist…BUT I gotta say, “Kay” has me rather concerned.
“Things are looking grim for our area on the Central Pacific coast. Today I am boarding up, getting things off the floor, storing all outdoor furniture, and getting a ditch tote ready. I am taking my last look at my beautiful gardens.
“It has been suggested by the Mayor that people evacuate the village, if possible, or at least go to high ground with lots of supplies. Many are planning to go over to the Gulf side tomorrow.
“I am not one to evacuate, but am seriously contemplating heading to visit my friends in San Felipe. Please use all your spiritual sources to push Kay more out to sea! Any help at all is great!”…Shari Bondy
This morning, I spent a good bit of time scoping out the different launch areas and deciding if I should attempt a launch. In the end, I got the boat in with very little drama. I wanted to get offshore since the inshore waters were roiled up from the passing tropical storm. Still a bit lumpy out there but beautiful warm, blue water. Still, no exotics to be found, but I did spot two marlin, the first of the season. I had sort of a short sess this morning because, for some unknown reason, I got off the beach with no snacks or liquids. It looks like there will be a couple of nice days before the next storm rolls through, so I’ll just keep looking. …Ross Zoerhof
Loreto
Tuesday afternoon Update.
The next Microsoft update! Never seen one this bad. The time was off by six hours when it finally came back to life- partially back to life:
storm is rolling into town, and this version has wind. Unfortunately, wind causes big problems with the electrical systems. However, there was no real damage from last week’s storm. Fishing is as you might suspect, and to top the morning off, my laptop appears to suddenly be dead! …Rick Hill, Click Here
La Paz
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 25 -Sept. 1, 2022
La Ventana
Buenos Dias! I’m happy to report our epic dorado fishing continues out of El Sargento, and a great day grocery shopping on the sea with my neighbor Derrek and Captain Beto.
We fished the north end of Isla Cerralvo and La Reina. Catching bait was challenging with only pinhead sardina, so we loaded the bait tank with 10 cocinero. The two bigger fish taped at 59 and 60.5 inches. Derrek caught one on a fly rod with a pinhead sardina. The rest were caught with cocinero. Life is good with tacos — at El Sargento-La Ventana! …Keith Williams
East Cape
There hasn’t been much fishing recently, as it has rained almost daily. However, from last weekend through Tuesday, the 7 to 20-pound yellowfin were biting from 30 to 45 miles off the beach. They are more line-shy than in past weeks.
No boats have gone out since midweek, although five went out today. There were lots of stripers around, as usual.
Tuna are still outside under the porpoise, but they have been picky biters since the storm. Still, lots of striped marlin and sailfish are lurking offshore. Although the dorado bite has slowed, or perhaps there wasn’t anything left floating for them to hide under.
Bottom fishing resumed as though nothing had happened. They were still getting Almaco jack, pargo, and unbelievably, a couple of nice-sized 10 to 15-pound yellowtail in 89-degree wáter… John Ireland Rancho Leonero
Puerto Los Cabos
So much for the Eastern Pacific being quiet. The new month began with port closures for the first three days due to the passing of Tropical Storm Javier. This system brought some much-needed rainfall and several inches of rain in certain areas. San Jose del Cabo river basin filled and washed out into the sea, taking with it lots of debris. Ocean swells increased, though this system passed just far enough to the west that we did not feel the high wind gusts.
Now the Port is back open for Sunday, September 4, though we are closely following the forecast of a new system named Kay that is rapidly developing. This one will likely reach hurricane strength and be on an unpredictable path that hopefully will take it just far enough off to the west, where Southern Baja will not take a direct hit! We expect higher winds, larger ocean swells, more rainfall, and new Port closures. The local landscape has quickly turned from a dry, parched desert into lush green tropical vegetation.
On the few days that the fleets were able to fish, anglers were catching primarily dorado in good numbers, though many were being released due to their small size and limits being enforced. The most popular fishing grounds were near Cardon, La Fortuna, and Iman Bank, where a few wahoo were also caught. As we find water temperatures cooling a few degrees after the storms pass, the wahoo might become more active.
Tuna action has been very slim, though again, this could change on any given day. Early in the week, one 400-pound black marlin was brought in from a small panga fishing on the Gordo Banks. The big black hit on a live skipjack. Striped marlin were found in good numbers near Vinorama, and even better action was located on the Golden Gate Banks on the Pacific side.
Minimal bottom action and not much inshore action though we did hear reports of a couple of late-season roosterfish found farther north. …Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas
Cabo San Lucas
As the latest tropical storm warnings predicted, “Javier” brought heavy rains to the Baja California Peninsula over the weekend, and the waters off Cabo San Lucas erupted with some of the best sportfishing since early spring, according to Rebecca Ehrenberg of Pisces Sportfishing.
Pisces’ Viking 60′ Happy Ending with another great day to report: 10 striped marlin, regardless of the impending weather reports. The excitement from the extraordinary fishing this week hasn’t worn off – As anglers await the Port’s reopening as the storm moves on through. …Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces Sportfishing fleet.
Top boats, 46′ La Chingona released 24 marlin in one day, while 37′ BBII released 22 in one day. In addition, there were large dorado weighing up to 52-pounds caught aboard the Yahoo and 20 to 45-pound yellowfin tuna.
Calm, beautiful seas with most of the action at the Golden Gate where the billfish and dorado were feeding on ballyhoo and mackerel, so much it attracted Bryde’s whales with sea lions, porpoise, and many different seabirds in addition to the 70 to 90 marlin a day that the Pisces fleet released…Pisces Sportfishing Fleet
